Apollon Limassol vs Shamrock Rovers Predictions

A visit to Cyprus looms for Irish side Shamrock Rovers, who are out to secure their place in the third round of the Europa League qualifiers. The Irish Premier Division side are doing well domestically, but they could top that off with another strong result in Europe this week. They are heading into this second leg in a decent position following their 2-1 success in Dublin a week ago. Austria Wien await the winner of this tie, but just who will book their place in that third-round tie?

Apollon are the heavy favourites for a result here, but they were expected to get more out of their trip to the Republic of Ireland. The hosts did manage to get an away goal, but their defensive issues in that trip could hurt them here. The burden is on the Cypriot side to turn things around in this second leg, but they might not have as easy a time as the odds suggest, with Rovers growing in confidence.

The visitors have already enjoyed some great results in Europe this term, but they will be hoping this is another march to the group stage. Rovers were the first-ever Irish side to make it to the group stage of the Europa League, while they are enjoying a great season which could well see them make it. They’ve improved domestically to put pressure onto Dundalk, while they’ve gone unbeaten across their recent Europa League games to come into this second leg in charge of the tie.

The visitors have the added advantage of coming into this game in the middle of their league campaign. They are through 26 games in the Irish Premier Division, so its hard to imagine they could be in better shape. Meanwhile, Apollon are warming up for their season. They were caught short in the first leg and that could happen again here. While we don’t doubt their forward talents after scoring in eight straight home matches in this competition, the Cypriots could leak goals at the back.

The hosts have just shown some issues at the back in the first leg, while both teams have scored in Rovers last four games in this competition. On the road in the Europa League Rovers have scored in five of their last six, while they have scored twice in their last three European games overall. Rovers have 14 goals across five matches in all competitions, while we’re backing them to find the net in this trip. Both teams to score is our pick for this game.